The Advocate cited Cambridge’s credentials of having the nation’s first African-American lesbian mayor, E. Denise Simmons, the city’s enactment of anti-discrimination protections for transgender people in 1997 and having what “is billed as New England’s only gay club with hot male dancers six nights a week.”

Rounding out the top five gayest cities were Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which finished in the fourth spot, and Seattle, Washington, which finished fifth, according to the magazine.

The comment section of the Advocate article offered some criticisms of the rankings and the criteria, which also awarded points to communities if they had a WNBA team or leather competitions.

The magazine says it used "totally accurate if decidedly subjective criteria'' and that it intentionally skipping San Francisco, New York City and even Northampton, Ma. to look at "some less expected locales.''

The BostInno site, which reported on the Advocate ranking earlier today, pointed out the city's first in the nation status in granting same sex marriage licenses back in 2004. "Pretty inspiring for a small town north of the Charles. Keep up the good work, Cambridge,'' BostInno said.